India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir’s pre-departure press conference set an aggressive tone for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, when he told former Australia captain Ricky Ponting to mind his own business and not question the form of Virat Kohli. In an expected retort, Ponting has said that he is not “surprised” about that reaction from a “prickly character”.
Gambhir threw his weight behind Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma when quizzed about their poor run against Bangladesh and New Zealand in the home Test series before flying to Australia and also questioned Ponting for his comments.
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“What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket?” Gambhir had said. “He should think about Australian cricket. I don’t have any concerns. They (Kohli and Rohit) are incredibly tough men; they’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and are going to achieve a lot in future as well.”
In the three-Test series against New Zealand, which India lost 0-3, Rohit scored 91 runs and Kohli 93 in their respective six innings.
Responding to Gambhir’s comments, the 49-year-old Ponting told 7News: “I was surprised to read the reaction but knowing the coach, Gautam Gambhir … he’s quite a prickly character, so I’m not surprised it was him who said something back.”
Toning down his previous comment, the Australian added that his intentions were not to hit out at the former India captain.
“In no way was it a dig at him (Kohli). I actually followed it up by saying he’s played well in Australia and he’ll be keen to bounce back over here…If you ask Virat, I’m sure he would be a little bit concerned that he hasn’t been able to make the same amount of hundreds as he has in previous years,” he said.
“So it’s amazing how little things can get cut up, but he’s a class player and he’s played well in Australia in the past.”
Talking about Kohli’s form in 2024, he has scored just 488 runs in 25 innings across formats in 19 international matches this year at an average of 20.33.
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Meanwhile, India had their first practice session at the WACA stadium in Perth on Tuesday and will open the series at the Optus Stadium in the same city on November 22.
The five-Test series is crucial to India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) after sliding to number two in the WTC points table.
